Extreme low tides next week coincide with Allyn Geoduck Festival

The festivities kick off with a chainsaw geoduck carving and Geoduck Derby registration.

“You are gonna get dirty if you want one of the big ones!” said Ken Wilson, vice president of the Allyn Community Association. “The geoduck has never had its own party. We decided to celebrate our unique asset with an enthusiastic annual event.”

If you have never dug a geoduck, now is the chance to learn how much of a challenge, yet how much fun it is to get down and dirty.

The June 4 festival coincides with a minus-2.4 foot low tide at 2:15 p.m. In the derby prizes awill be warded for the heaviest and longest shell.

Geoducks typically burrow three feet deep. Teams of two to four people can register online or during the day of the festival. Shellfish licenses, available on-site or online, are required for each digger. The geoduck judging will occur at 4 p.m.

The public is invited to watch six of the best chainsaw carvers in the region create geoducks from six foot lengths of timber from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at six locations in Allyn. Contest awards and auction of the carvings takes place at 3 p.m. at Waterfront Park.

Geoduck will be on the menu at Lennard K’s Boat House restaurant. Festival-goers can also try delicious geoduck preparations by Xinh’s Clam & Oyster House and Steven’s Fine Dining of Shelton.

Other activities include contests and entertainment, food and beverage and family activities throughout the community including Sea Grant natural history walks and beach scavenger hunts with prizes.

Taylor Shellfish Farms is sponsoring oyster shuffleboard, an oyster roast and amateur oyster shucking contests at 11:30 a.m., 2 and 4 p.m. with the winners of the three heats competing for the festival championship at 4:30 p.m.

Do the “Loop around Town” and win prizes from local businesses. Live music is ongoing from 11:00 a.m. featuring “Sunshine Forecast”, “Perry Acker, and “The Lester Murphey Band”. Local high school rock bands will also play in various locations around town.

About the author

A Seattle native, Mark Yuasa is a lifelong angler who grew up near the banks of Lake Washington and has been covering fishing and outdoors for more than 21 years for The Seattle Times. Read his regular fishing report every Thursday and the outdoor notebook every Sunday.